New Beginnings
by OneHotMess
Summary: New Year. Fresh start.A short little piece to ring in the new year.


Well. I was bored, and this was the result. I haven't been interested in Miami that much lately, so i guess i'll just live in my little fantasy world where Eric is still on the show and he and Calleigh are still together. But I must say, i do love watching Adam Rodriquez on "Ugly Betty". I love him as a bad boy/secret softy. Alright well R/R. It makes me smile (:  
As usual, I do not own anything.

_

It never crossed Eric's mind that maybe she was avoiding him.

It was New Year's Eve, and Eric found himself dressed in a stuffy suit at the annual MDPD celebration. He had been officially been there for a total of thirty minutes, and not once had he seen Calleigh.

Oh, he knew she was there. Natalia had let it slip that they had arrived together sometime around had almost been two hours ago.

At first he had blamed it on the size of the ball room. There _were_ a lot of people moving about. Then he began to grow suspicious when he hadn't caught even a glimpse of her the whole night.

Now though, now he was looking for her. He didn't care about speaking with anyone else. Eric quickly navigated his way through the room, his eyes scoping out that tell-tale blonde hair.

About ready to give up, he jumped a little when his cell phone began to buzz in his jacket pocket. Pulling it out, his eyes widened in surprise when he noted it was from Calleigh. Anxiously hitting 'read', he was greeted with a simple, one-word text: 'balcony'.

_

With the lowering of the sun came a slight chill to the usually humid Miami air. Calleigh shivered involuntarily, and pulled her light shrug tighter around her body.

She knew Eric had been looking for her. She thought she had done a pretty good job of avoiding him, but soon enough she mentally scolded herself for acting so childish. They _needed_ to talk, and there was no way that she was going to be able to avoid it for much longer.

Pulling out her phone, Calleigh opened a new message, and entered in Eric's number by heart. Avoiding all forms of greeting, she sent him only her location figuring he would know what to do.

_

As Eric pulled open the French doors leading to the balcony, his breath caught in his throat. Calleigh stood with her back towards him, her long blonde hair cascading serenely over her back. He could tell she was wearing _that _little black dress. The one that had always served as a distraction when he had taken her out for dinner. Paired with her sky-high Christian Louboutin heels, she was truly a vision.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he quietly called out to her, hoping not to startle her.

She turned, and smiled at him slightly. "Eric…" It came out as almost a whisper.

"I've been looking for you." If Eric was nervous, Calleigh couldn't tell, but she was acutely aware of how her palms had become slightly sweaty.

"I know."

Her reply wasn't what Eric had been expecting, he really didn't know how to continue. When had things become so awkward between them? They used to talk all the time, but recently Calleigh hadn't been returning his phone calls. The last time that Eric had even spoken to her was when he was working for the defense almost a month ago. They had been so close. Now looking at her face he could tell her walls were up, and he felt his heart break just a little more. Eric searched for the right words to say, but found himself completely incompetent.

Thankfully Calleigh sensed his uneasiness, and decided to through him a rope. "Isn't the moon beautiful tonight?" She asked, watching as Eric's gaze slowly slide to the full moon that was currently shinning on them.

"Yeah," he breathed. The moon reminded Eric of happier times, and looking at Calleigh's face he knew she was reminiscing as well.

_

_The air was warm, and the moon was filtering through the open window creating almost a heavenly glow around the two inhabitants of the room. _

_Calleigh giggled as Eric lovingly buried his face into her hair, depositing a sweet kiss on the side of her neck. As her eyes traveled to the open French doors, she couldn't stop a gasp from coming forth. _

"_Oh Eric, look at the moon. It's beautiful." The awe in her voice had Eric lifting his head from the curtain of vanilla blonde, and gazing towards the open window. It was beautiful, but not as beautiful as the women he was currently holding in his arms. In fact…_

"_Not as beautiful as you babe." Calleigh's cheeks quickly tinted pink, and she ducked her head and treated Eric with one of her heart-stopping kisses." _

___

Eric's heart yearned for it to be like that again. He wanted to hold her and kiss her, tell her he loved her, and tell her everything was going to be alright. That _they _were going to be alright. " I miss us," he blurted before he could stop himself.

Calleigh's eyes widened only slightly before she calculated a careful response. "I do too, Eric." Okay, so maybe not as smooth as she had planned. In an instant he was by her side, his hand coming to rest on her hip. For the first time he noticed how tired she looked. And she was. Calleigh _was _tired_,_ but not so much in a physical sense. She was tired of being alone. She was tired of waking up to an empty bed. She was tired of coming home to an empty house. Really she was just plain tired.

" We can make this work Cal, I promise." The truthfulness in his eyes made Calleigh want to believe him, but she couldn't do it completely.

She had done it one to many times. Chosen boyfriends who ended up disappointing her. She had hoped Eric was different, but it turned out him lying to her was one of the worst things she had ever experienced. Calleigh had been head over heels in love with him, completely putting her trust in him. But she had fallen flat on her face, and their relationship had ended up like so many before. "You can't promise that Eric."

"No Calleigh, I can't. But I can sure as hell try." Eric hoped that he was convincing her. He couldn't really tell . Her face was completely devoid of all emotion.

Calleigh's heart softened. Although he had hurt her, her yearning to be with him overshadowed that. She knew the only reason Eric had lied to her in the first place was to protect her, and really she had put it in the past. She was ready to move on, and she wanted to do it with him.

Before she had a chance to reply the crowd inside began a loud countdown. Eric peered at his watch, it was almost midnight. Looking at Calleigh he could see her cheeks taking on a slight pink tint. As the seconds became less in value, so did the distance between their bodies. Soon Calleigh's arms were linked behind his neck, their foreheads resting against each other. "I want to try again Eric," Calleigh whispered into the minute space between their lips. "I want this to work."

Soon the last number was shouted into the night, and a large commotion was heard inside. Reverently, Eric lowered his lips to Calleigh's in a gentle kiss. Not wanting to take things too fast, Eric slowly released her lips, loving they way Calleigh whimpered in protest.

Licking his lips, Eric slowly lowered his lips to her forehead. "Happy new year, babe."

Calleigh smiled brightly at him, already wanting to reconnect their lips once again.

"It sure does look that way," she whispered before once again closing the distance between them.

* * *

Happy New Year!  
Love, Victoria.


End file.
